Alone In A World Of Plenty
by The Ivy Among Roses
Summary: A series of one shots looking into the life and times of Finn Abernathy, and his time at the jeffersonian, and how the little things can effect people in ways we cannot imagine. Reviews welcome, and i take requests :D
1. Chapter 1

"Mr. Abernathy?" Finn snapped his head away from the scapula, towards his employer, meeting Cam's eyes, shaking himself.

"Sorry Ma'am. I guess I got caught up in the abrasions. It won't happen again." Cam looked at him, cocking her head and smiling. He had seen that look, one given to him in this very room, one that was always lit up by the lights under the examining table.

"Mr. Abernathy. I do not care how you get it done; just find me the source of the abrasions and chipping marks on the scapula and fibula. How you do that is none of my business, unless it's illegal. Then I would have to fire you." Her smile widened as he laughed looking away, back to the

"I had a theory about that Ma'am. You ever been to South Carolina? It's a pretty state. Big trees, bloomin' flowers, and so many windmills it makes grains of sand on a beach look like locusts in January-"

"Is this going somewhere, Mr. Abernathy?" Finn watched as Cam's smile faded, ever so slightly, a gentle lower of the corners of the mouth closing away white teeth. He could see it, the confusion, the same one that appeared on the faces of all the Jeffersonian team, the one that appeared every time he used "Country Slang". Again, as he had many times, he felt as though he was a visitor in a different land, where he understood their language, but was not understood in his turn. Alone. Mute. That seemed to be the ways of the big city.

"When I was in South Carolina, my brother shot down this buck. His shot was too high and it hit its antlers, bull's eye on the third prong, only the bullet shattered and lodged itself in the shoulder blade and third left rib. Poor thing couldn't move, due to a bullet fragment, in its vertebrae. I think something similar happened when our victim was shot." Cam eyes grew wide as a full moon to a sun, as understanding dawned upon her.

"Knee... and chest... oh Finn! That is brilliant! But bullets can penetrate bone, why would the bullets shatter?" Finn smiled again. Now he felt as though his words were getting through to her, making the foreign language he spoke, words of her language. Words of Science.

"We determined from the buckle fractures on her wrists that she was leaning in front of some kind of metal table, because of the three inch iron fragments Thirsten, I mean Dr. Hodgins swabbed. If she was below the counter, the bullets would have shattered on impact."

Cam pointed to the scapula in Finn's hand, furrowing her eyebrows, narrowing her eyes.

"Then how would the bullet fragments end up in her scapula?"

Finn swiveled on the spot, trying to recreate the scenario, imagining bullets flying towards him.

" If... if she had her back against the table, and then turned to face it, that would explain both the fibula chipping and the abrasions on the scapula.

'Well done Mr. Abernathy!" she said, turning away and leaving the exam room. Finn sighed, looking back at the disembodied woman on the lit up exam table.

Again, here he was. Alone. Alone in a world much larger then where he came from, a world where you could walk by a thousand people and not know the name of a single one. Back home, he knew everyone on his street, his neighbourhood, even the entire population of his high school.

But now, in the grand and endless place that was Washington, for the first time, he was alone. ..


	2. Chapter 2

_Hey there! Remember I LOVE reviews and I DO take requests! Thanks for reading! I will Try updating every day but i do have a busy life so no promises. _

"Opie!" Finn turned at the sound of his nickname, greeting Dr. Hodgins with a smile, putting down the skull yet again. The cracked face looked up at him; empty eye sockets stared up at him emptily glowing under the florescent lights of the examiner table. Exposed teeth screaming silent words though doomed to never be heard again. Finn could not help but relate.

"Something you found stained on the patella Dr. Hodgins?'

"Yeah, I found coal staining on the inner patella, probably left behind from the murder weapon. I had Angela run an analysis on what it might be and nada." He said handing the files over to Finn, who took them, flipping through to the mineral rating.

"Well our victim did work in a coal mine, so finding a weapon covered in coal dust will be as easy as frying an egg on the back of a sun bak-"

There. The same look on Hodgins' face that Cam had worn in the examiner room. Confusion, written upon his features like the words of a pulp mill novel. Every time, that confusion leapt upon their faces, he felt lost in a world of cold deceitful beings, beyond the people who said they liked him, and into the mouth of a beast bent on making him feel separate and strange.

"Finding possible weapons should be easy, and we can collect them all, then have Angela run it through the Angelatron to see if we can find a match." Dr. Hodgins shook his head gently; staring into space, close to Finn's left foot. His head suddenly snapped up, staring into Finn's eyes, his mouth a perfect O.

'Or I could have Angela run it through again, only isolating where i found the most coal dust, which would give us a trajectory and a potential thickness! Opie that's brilliant!" yelled Hodgins turning away quickly.

"Glad I could he- "but Hodgins was gone and Finn only spoke to the bones in front of him. The pit of his stomach churned suddenly, emptiness pooling into his body like ink in water, tainting his blood, smearing his name with something he could not scrub off. Yet again, Finn Abernathy felt the sting of loneliness.


	3. Chapter 3

Finn was alone that night. It was true he was out with Dr. Sweets and Agent Booth, who he had since built a friendship with since he, the FBI agent and the psychologist had been sent to investigate a victim's house, and it was true that Sweets had invited Finn to the bar so himself and Booth could enjoy a hardy dose of beer, after catching the murderer, but really, if you had asked him how he spent his evening, he would have sadly responded alone.

"I mean, she just up and said no! What kind of woman does that?" confessed a very, very drunk Agent Booth to an equally drunk Sweets, who nodded woefully. Finn who sat in between the two men had no idea who "Hannah" was, and had only just met Daisy once at a conference for all the Jeffersonian interns.

"Daisy did it worse though! She said yes and then she ditched me to go to Wheretheheckistan with Dr. Brennan, leaving me to wallow in misery with her wedding ring burning a hole in my pocket 'nd and a lousy gig as a piano player! What was I supposed to do?" he hiccupped, taking another swig of his drink and burping loudly. Finn smiled, as Booth nodded very slowly and looking very seriously at Sweets.

"That's rough dude." He mumbled, also dousing his worries in an alcoholic beverage.

"Wha'bout you Finn? You ever proposed to anyone?" Finn refrained from snorting his drink at the very low and growly voice the ex-sniper had adopted.

"Well sir, I can honestly say I have never proposed to anyone. And until that long sought after doe leaves the herd to join me I never will."

"Don't ever do it," Growled Sweets," They say they love you, that would rather die than live without you, and then poof! They run off to dig up early humans in some remote and uninhabited island dwelling, and then they end up coming back and begging you for the ring." Finn watched the Psychologist get another glass of beer.

"…Poof…" whimpered Agent Booth before spilling half his drink on his white button up, resulting in muffled cursing.

"But… the problem is… I still love her." Said Sweets, a silver tear illuminated in the dimly lit bar, crawling down his face. Finn was baffled.

"How is that a problem? That seems about as problematic as trying to get been plant out of a corn field." And there in less then a minute, as understanding did not follow the foreign language that was his words, he was alone, alone in the company of others, others who spoke neither the language of science nor that of his old world, where he knew the faces and the names to go along, where to find Jonathon his childhood friend on Thursdays, what exactly a family was. Here he was a Stranger speaking only half the language of the strange people.

"Tha' makes absolutely no sense." Sweets said." And it's a problem because, wha' if she loves me back an' we get married and then she has the chance to… I dunno prove that Dumbledore really did exist when they find his tomb, then wha'll she do? Run off and leave me with my two kids named Edward and Chloe who will wonder why she left and I'll have to say "Because she needs to find the last horcrux. "" The shrink stopped his drunken ramble when he heard the sounds of Agent Booth sobbing into his arm heavily.

"Agent Booth? Is everything alright?"

"I just love Bones so much. It hurts right here you know? And when she isn't around I worry she might not be alright, and what if something happens to the baby and she falls into a state of depression…"

Finn had had enough teary break up stories for one night, so he made his goodbyes quick, accepting the stuffy ones of his drinking buddies, and exiting the bar after paying his tab.

As he walked the street lamp lit streets of Washington, the loneliness echoed, as his only friend to accompany him on the journey to his apartment, was the night itself.

Finn wondered when the lonely would stop following him home, and when it would stop singing him to sleep in soft voices.

But even he knew that it would always follow him, as long as he was not on the safe and well walked trails of home.

The lonely began its song, the hum making his fingers fumble as he unlocked the door to his apartment, the first verse ringing in his ears as he flopped into bed, alcohol sinking him into a tired haze.

He felt more alone then he ever had.

_Hey! This one is quite a bit longer, because had a lot of time on my hands. Reviews are welcome, And I DO TAKE REQUESTS _


	4. Chapter 4

_Hey guys! Just to clear the air, Michelle will start making appearances in these chapters, around chapter 6, because sad Finn is just too much fun to write. Hope you guys like it anyway!_

The sun beat down on the field, striking the flowing grass like a second miniature sun, and making finding the rest of the human remains rather difficult, and making Finn's eyes hurt from all the squinting. Finn bagged a femur delicately, turning around to hand it off to the FBI who stood waiting to take the bag.

"Um, ma'am? You can't handle the scapula that way. Please be more careful, we don't want any more damage to the bones then there already is." He said, pulling down the brim of his baseball cap against the sun. The woman, who had been handling the scapula in a waving fashion, made no notice she had heard him, though the results of his words showed as she to, gently placed the scapula in an evidence bag.

Finn jolted as his cell phone started to vibrate in his Jeffersonian jumpsuit. He answered it.

"Hello?"

"Mr. Abernathy? I assume that all of the remains have been collected from the crime scene." Came Dr. Brennan's cool and monotone voice from the other line of the phone.

"Well it isn't exactly the easiest thing to do. This field spans 3 miles, and the storm could have spread the remains past that point. We are still missing a skull, the right fibula, several vertebrae, 4 ribs, the pelvis, two kneecaps, seven teeth, 5 entire fingers, and the distal phalanx of the left thumb, along with several other bones. At the rate this is taking, it will be like trying to find a bullfrog in mid January."

Finn looked around him, the fields of wheat reminding him all too much of home, of the farm he grew up on, of the places he had spent hours playing with his friends, of his old life. He knew somehow that the city did end, that it gave way to a more pleasurable side of the world, but he had not expected it to look so much like home. His momentary happiness was short lived though.

"Mr. Abernathy! How do you expect me to declare it a homicide with only a partial skeleton! I require the bones as quickly as possible, and in the exact condition they were found in. There could be a killer on the loose Mr. Abernathy, and I would prefer it if they, if they do exist, do not have the chance to maim other people. I expect you to do your job and do it thoroughly. Also, Dr. Hodgins requests that you collect some soil, plant, and insects for him to analyze. Thank you that will be all Mr. Abernathy."

The line went dead before Finn sighed deeply through his nose. He stared around him, at the kneeling and crouching FBI agents, at the Jeffersonian personnel who handed off the bones, at the tall dark figure of a very hung over Agent Booth who asked the man who had discovered the bones various questions, too busy to notice anything. They were all too busy.

His phone vibrated again and Finn grudgingly removed his gloves again to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Hey Opie! How are the soil samples coming?"

"Oh, hi Thirsten. I was expecting Dr. Brennan. Um, the ground is rather hard packed, and until I find softer ground I won't be able to extract any soil. And I am sorry to say that since the wheat seems to be covered in a rather deadly pesticide, there is no insect life, and there won't be for many more miles. But I can certainly get you some wheat. Do I hear crying in the background?" asked Finn, craning his ears to catch the second appearance of the muffed cry.

"Aren't you at work Thirsten?"

"Don't tell anyone. Angela keeps sneaking Michael in. Don't you have softer ground to find?"

"Yes I do. Bye."

"Thanks Opie."

Finn looked up at the late afternoon sun, felt its warm and prickly touch on his face. He looked back at the ground, pulling up some wheat stems before continuing his solitary walk. The loneliness laughed at him as he saw that his tailing FBI agent had left him to talk to Agent Booth.

He walked the three mile stretch alone, carrying his own bags, now containing three teeth, the femur, skull fragments and the index finger, scrambled on occasion, quick and nimble fingers trying to catch every insect specimen, trying to pull every plant he saw, and testing soil density every step he took.

Fin Abernathy spent the crime scene investigation alone, undisturbed and quiet, his only company the wheat and victim. The loneliness echoed loudly in his ears as he drove his little Chevy to the Jeffersonian, preparing for a long night of skull rebuilding, and preparing for the harsh and cold tones he would receive from Dr. Brennan scolding him like a child for being late. Here, back in the lights of the city, he felt alone.

Alone in a world of plenty, abandoned in a city of countless, deserted in a jungle of concrete. Finn Abernathy remained alone.


	5. Pawns A'playin

Finn stared around the room, looking at the faces of the other interns apprehensively, seeing the intelligence in their keen eyes, nimble fingers now still at the sides of their owners. A small mousy girl chattered excitedly away to a blonde boy not much older than Finn himself, a shorter stockier young man blurted facts out at random, while, just beyond them a tall, lanky character sniffed hand sanitizer absentmindedly. A darker shorter man sat as he did, staring around, though this man seemed very at ease with the whole situation.

Finn was uncomfortable. This was after all, his first Jeffersonian intern meeting, where they handed out positions, and the dates of them. He had read about the cycle, Ms. Saroyan would hand out the dates they would be acting as intern, some would begin work immediately, whereas some would be, as the interns said "Pooling the system."

"Okay. Let's get this thing done. I have a head to saw through and blood that won't test itself. So acting right away from now until October 3rd will be Mr. Wendell Bray. From October 3rd to November 4th will be Ms. Daisy Wick. November 4th to December 5th Mr. Colin Fisher. And finally from December 5th to January 6th Mr. Vincent-Nigel Murray. Thank you all for your applications and the next intern meeting will be January 7th where the next sets of brilliant young minds get a turn, Mr. Bray if you would follow me."

Finn sat numbly. When would it be his turn? When would he get the chance to work alongside the Jeffersonian team?

He was so deeply lost in his disappointment, so deeply lost in sadness that he would have to return home out of Washington, back home to a place that barley had a name, to his abusive step father, to his _other _life that he did not notice the dark man walk over and sit beside him. For several long minutes, he sat, watching the other interns continue the chatter. Non came to see him, and the lonely he had felt ever since he got on the plane widened, slowly, swallowing his inards.

"Better luck next time. Almost nobody gets the job their first time in the system. Don't worry about it." The man had a cool voice, and spoke in a scripted manor.

"How many times you been here?" Finn asked looking at his companion, as the interns who had received jobs, begin to pool out of the small room they had been waiting in.

"I have had the job 7? No 8 times. I have been in this room 12. You don't know anyone else do you? That tall guy? His name is Fisher, he has… problems. Put himself in a coma for about 3 weeks. Not very professional. Wendell, the guy who's working now, been here almost as long as Zach Addy was, only from what I hear, Zach was still better. That's why we're all here actually. Zach Addy. Kid turned out to be working for a serial killer, and got shut in the Psycho ward. The girl with the brown hair that can't control her thoughts is Daisy Wick. Also not very professional, and has a… history with Dr. Sweets. And finally that little guy with the British accent is Vincent. He won Jeopardy and flew around the world. Got back around two weeks ago after he spent all his winnings"

Finn filed away the names and the faces they fit for another time, and then turned back to the man sitting opposite him.

"That leaves you Sir." He extended a hand. The intern shook it.

"I'm Clark Edison. Nice to meet you Mr. Abernathy."

_I don't know, just sorta wanted to mention that Finn was always there, just not a pawn in play. I think this would be around beginning of season five, because Vincent bless him, is still alive. Remember I take requests and love reviews. Thanks for reading!_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N Hey fanfic ! Should have mentioned it at the end of the chapter where Finn goes to the bar with booth and sweets, you don't need to drink to get intoxicated. If someone is exposed to the smell of alcohol for a rather long time, the brain begins to relax, making the person rather tired and easy to deal with. Sorry for the mix up, I know he's only 18. Thanks anyway to TWLtwl who pointed that out. Thanks a million! Also thanks to the people who put a favorite, or an alert on this story. Have fun reading. _

Was it even medically possible to have eyes that brown? When he was 7, his mom had bought him a dog, and he had loved Patty until the day she died, and Patty's eyes had been that brown. That deep rich chocolaty brown, the kind of brown that darkened around the pupil, then gradually gained flecks of gold as it came near the end of the iris. The kind of brown eyes that had to have a good person to look through them, and Finn knew that someone with eyes like that could not be bad.

A person with eyes like that had to be perfect.

And was her hair naturally like that? Luscious and stunning, hair so black, you could look through it with a flashlight, and see nothing. Hair so magnificently shiny, a brand new penny looked dull when compared to it.

A person with hair like that had to be wonderful.

And what color exactly was her skin?

Not brown enough to match her eyes, but smooth and satiny, like a curtain of brown silk, gleaming and silky.

A woman with skin that perfect, that gorgeous, had to be pure.

Was there even a word to describe her smile? The way downy soft lips parted to flash even white teeth, the way she seemed to glow when she did, the way the world stood silent as that wonderful girl smiled, could not be matched by any other person. The way she had bashfully flipped her hair and smiled at Finn, made the world fall away, made all bad and hateful things disappear, with that shining flash of a smile, death stopped to watch.

A person with a smile like that had to be flawless…

Finn knew she was flawless. She couldn't have flaws. No, not a person like that, a person like _Michelle _was saintly. And _he_ Finn Abernathy was escorting the saint to her very first bluegrass concert.

And yet, as excited as he was, as his insides continued their country version of the conga, he felt a twinge of nervousness…

This was his boss's adoptive daughter. He was a guy with a 'troubled past'. He was only very slightly bothered by this, but that small bit of bother, spoke its message loud and clear.

Mother bears would kill for their cubs, without question or second thought, and Finn couldn't help but wonder if after his date with Michelle, he would be the next one on the autopsy table…


	7. Chapter 7

"Miss Saroyan? Do you have a moment to spare?" Finn poked his head into her office, his Jeffersonian baseball cap askew.

"Yes. If it is only a moment. The analysis on this blood is due to come to term any second now."

"A moment is all that is required." Said Finn, stepping into the office to stand in front of her , taking a deep breath and shaking himself, as though to rid him of crawling ants.

"I would like to clear up my intentions with Michelle." Cam looked away very suddenly, back to her computer screen.

"There is no need Mr. Abernathy. I trust that you will take care of Michelle, and that you two will behave yourselves. " This was not a topic Cam was very fond of. After the rather large embarrassment that had been the ice cream parlor, she had decided not to butt into their business anymore. Finn nodded slowly, and Cam watched as a shadow crossed his face.

"Michelle told me you were snooping around her room, reading personal things. I understand that you love her, that you would do anything to protect her. So answer me this, are you being more protective of her now that we are seeing each other, then with other men she has fancied? Are you protecting her from falling in love with me?"

Cam was dumbstruck. Totally and completely lost for words.

"Can you do me the courtesy of telling me the truth Ma'am? If you have any concerns then please voice them now, or be forever the noise of after a storm." Cam inferred that Finn's imagery was referring to silence, so she spoke what he wanted to hear.

"I think it is fair to say that I am being a touch more aware of the happenings of this relationship, then previous ones that Michelle has been in."

"May I ask why?" said Finn, looking the barest bit betrayed, as though his best friend had just told him he killed his dog

"Because you threatened your stepfather with a knife. I am sorry, I know that that is your past, that I have no right to label you based on that sole and solitary action, but as you say, I love Michelle, and would do anything to protect her. Anything at all to make her happy and safe."

"And you think for one second that those are not the exact same reasons for which I raised the knife to my step father? I watched as he hit her, as I saw her be in danger and unhappy. You do not have a right to label me, just as I do not have the right to label you, as the over protective and untrusting mother. But do you really think I would threaten Michelle, or hurt her intentionally? Because I would sooner hurt myself then her. I would sooner die."

And with that he straightened his baseball cap, said a hasty goodbye, and left his bosses office, leaving Cam to sit there, waiting for the blood analysis to finish, feeling as though several whales had been placed upon her shoulders.

And where she sat, Cam felt a strange and suffocating loneliness, swallowing her whole, and echoing in Finn's voice.

_Do you think I would hurt her… I would sooner die…_


	8. Chapter 8

"Miss Saroyan? Do you have a moment to spare?" Finn poked his head into her office, his Jeffersonian baseball cap askew.

"Yes. If it is only a moment. The analysis on this blood is due to come to term any second now."

"A moment is all that is required." Said Finn, stepping into the office to stand in front of her , taking a deep breath and shaking himself, as though to rid him of crawling ants.

"I would like to clear up my intentions with Michelle." Cam looked away very suddenly, back to her computer screen.

"There is no need Mr. Abernathy. I trust that you will take care of Michelle, and that you two will behave yourselves. " This was not a topic Cam was very fond of. After the rather large embarrassment that had been the ice cream parlor, she had decided not to butt into their business anymore. Finn nodded slowly, and Cam watched as a shadow crossed his face.

"Michelle told me you were snooping around her room, reading personal things. I understand that you love her, that you would do anything to protect her. So answer me this, are you being more protective of her now that we are seeing each other, then with other men she has fancied? Are you protecting her from falling in love with me?"

Cam was dumbstruck. Totally and completely lost for words.

"Can you do me the courtesy of telling me the truth Ma'am? If you have any concerns then please voice them now, or be forever the noise of after a storm." Cam inferred that Finn's imagery was referring to silence, so she spoke what he wanted to hear.

"I think it is fair to say that I am being a touch more aware of the happenings of this relationship, then previous ones that Michelle has been in."

"May I ask why?" said Finn, looking the barest bit betrayed, as though his best friend had just told him he killed his dog

"Because you threatened your stepfather with a knife. I am sorry, I know that that is your past, that I have no right to label you based on that sole and solitary action, but as you say, I love Michelle, and would do anything to protect her. Anything at all to make her happy and safe."

"And you think for one second that those are not the exact same reasons for which I raised the knife to my step father? I watched as he hit her, as I saw her be in danger and unhappy. You do not have a right to label me, just as I do not have the right to label you, as the over protective and untrusting mother. But do you really think I would threaten Michelle, or hurt her intentionally? Because I would sooner hurt myself then her. I would sooner die."

And with that he straightened his baseball cap, said a hasty goodbye, and left his bosses office, leaving Cam to sit there, waiting for the blood analysis to finish, feeling as though several whales had been placed upon her shoulders.

And where she sat, Cam felt a strange and suffocating loneliness, swallowing her whole, and echoing in Finn's voice.

_Do you think I would hurt her… I would sooner die…_


	9. Chapter 9

"You what?"

"I got into an argument with your mom."

"Well what about? Sure it takes me about two constructive sentences to get in a fight with her but she's my guardian so that almost doesn't count, but still!"

"What else? She still doesn't like me being around you, much less seeing you."

"Well I'm glad you stood up to her. She won't fire you or anything, believe me, but for a while she'll be cold and short tempered, but only for 3 days tops."

"But, god, I don't mean to speak in anyway but kind about your mother, but what right does she have the right to expect me to do now what I did then?"

"Finn are you crying?"

Finn wiped an almost cascading tear from his cornea, and sighed deeply, and shook himself.

"Sorry. I am just so dang tired of being branded by my past actions."

"I know Finn. I love you."

These words had never been uttered by either of them before. The first time she had said she loved him. Finn did not choose his words carefully at all, just blurted them out, let them run their course.

"I have always loved you. I will never stop loving you."

_The first time they say I love you. Just thought I would. I am running out of ideas so will someone please give me anything? Any kind of request. ANYTHING._


	10. Chapter 10

_A/N This was a request from _JayBee188 _(see! I do take them!). A confrontation (yeah, another one, let's say, several months after the last one, don't worry they will find happiness soon!) where Michelle hears Finn say that if being with him causes her this much grief, he'll leave her so she can be at rest. _

"Mr. Abernathy?"

Finn turned, halting the sigh that was about to make its way from his diaphragm into the world, in its tracks, and turning to meet his employers gaze head on.

"Can I help you Ms. Saroyan?" he said, trying to be as calm and patient as he could be. He knew how this play went, she would bring up Michelle and in the end when all was said and done, he would come running back, begging to keep his job, while still maintaining his relationship with Michelle.

"Oh I just wanted to talk… about Michelle."

"What about Michelle?"

Cam beckoned Finn to take a seat in front of her desk, and Finn left the tissue samples on the desk and sat heavily.

Cam pursed her lips and looked at him awkwardly.

"You and Michelle have… been… seeing each other for… quite a few months-"

"5 to be exact." Finn interjected, looking fixedly at the picture of his girlfriend that he loved so much.

"5 months. Now I would just like to clear up… what I mean to say is… how far are you willing to go with this?" Finn knew she hadn't meant to say it in that exact tone, but he controlled his urge to run from the room into Michelle's arms, telling her he would never leave her, that he would always love her.

"Well, I don't really know… As far as she is willing to take it I guess." He placed his words carefully, as talking to cam about Michelle was like trying to ride an elephant over a mine field, something that could blow up in your face is you made the wrong move.

"What I'm really asking is… do you love her?"

Finn looked up at Cam, his eyes burning, burning with defiance and anger.

"Of course I love her." His voice was sharper then he wanted it to be, but at the current time he didn't want to keep his emotions in check.

Cam raised her hands in surrender.

"Okay, okay uncle, I just wanted to know how serious you were."

"And Michelle told you last night didn't she? That's why she had a fight with you! She told what I would say and you wouldn't believe her. Why are you making this so hard for her?"

Without even realizing it, Finn was on his feet, and yelling, his frustration boiling over into a pit of fire, making it hotter and more seething.

"I am her guardian Mr. Abernathy! It is legally my job to care for her mental and physical well being, and if that means monitoring her boyfriends and social life like a tyrant then so be it!"

"You are making her mental well being as stable as the earthquake scale in Japan! You harassing her about her life like this is putting her on edge, and I hate seeing her like that! So if you plan on causing her more distress over her relationship with me, then maybe it's best if I leave her!"

There was a dry and anguished sob, and Finn heard something drop, and upon turning, he saw a length of dark hair flying out of the office, a bag full of catfish sandwiches on the floor, the food spilled all over the polished floors.

"Michelle!" cried Finn running after her, and before he was gone from the office, he turned and gave Cam a smoldering look, one that said I told you so, in every nature of its being.

The subtle glaring in his usually soft and open eyes said that Finn Abernathy was angry, and so help him god he was going to find a way to fix it.

"Now two people are mad at me…" groaned Cam, putting her head in her hands and sighing.


	11. Chapter 11

_A/N LONG OVERDUE! A request from Ayiana- Beautiful Flower. All of this was her idea, right down to the plot the name etc. I just slapped on a face, added in some adjectives and BOOM! We had ourselves a MacChapter. Hope ya'll like it._

"Michelle?" Cam knocked a knuckle against the dark wood of Michelle's bedroom door, sighing, praying that this time she would answer.

"Go away." Said a muffled voice.

"No. I want to make up with you. Let me in." Cam leaned against the door frame. 2 days of this hate from both her 'daughter' and Finn.

And Cam did not like being hated…

It wasn't the fact that Cam was feeling guilty now that the anger followed her to work and back home, oh no. You would be a fool to believe that for one second.

No, it was the fact that Finn's work was unrivaled in its perfection, and he had been crowned 'King of the Lab' over 12 times in the past 2 days alone, dooming him to be Brennan's trophy intern.

And Michelle? So far there had been no signs of rampant drug abuse, drinking or teenage pregnancy.

All was well with the world.

Or was it?

"Michelle. Now."

The door opened. Michelle was wearing her favorite knee tickling floral dress, that white and yellow with little calla lilies on it. She looked fine. But her usually gorgeous face was contorted in the best, most evil and disgusting stare she could muster, and Cam could feel the waves of dislike flowing off her adoptive daughter like a miniature sea.

"I'm sorry." Cam said simply.

Michelle opened the door even more, stood in the center of the gap blocking the small view of the purple room that lay beyond it, with a white desk and corner of a large bed peeking into the field of vision, and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Are you, now?" Michelle's voice sagged with sarcasm. Behind her Cam could hear Why Can't I? By Liz Phair playing in the background.

"Yes. Now stop being cruel and forgive me."

_Please, please, please. _Cam thought. _After all we've been through…_

"Oooooooooooh so now I'm the cruel one? Ok, come in, and let me tell you a story." Michelle stepped aside to let Cam into the bright room, lit by an amber lamp in the corner on the white desk, that was really too modern looking for its own good _I mean really Michelle? It looks like a skeleton! Oh come on Cam, it looks cool I really like this one!_

Cam sat on the bed, looking around at the square room. It was large with a high ceiling, two large tan bookshelves scaling the walls, lined with text books, and novels, classics that Cam and Michelle had picked up on their regular visits to the Book Mansion, posters of new bands decorating the wall, and the weird chandelier that hung from the ceiling.

Michelle sat opposite Cam beside the desk, opening a new tab on her computer and going to her email.

"Now Cam, when you told me three months ago that if you are mad or need to apologize to someone you always make a rough draft on your email account. You are analytical. You plan everything before you do it." Michelle looked around at Cam with an evil little smile.

"SO of course I knew you'd make one for this argument."

"You HACKED my email account? And read a private message?" Cam leaned forward, awe struck that her usually perfect adoptive child had been so bad.

And not only was what Michelle said true, that Cam always wrote a letter t a person she was mad at or felt sorry for and never sent, because she does do that, and believes it to be a good way to release anger, but that this email contained the sappiest, most dramatic and pitiful thing Cam could write, and wrote it to try and make Michelle feel so sorry for her that she might forgive finally.

In short Cam was sinking low…

"You betcha, now, I found this little email in your draft tab, labeled 'I'm Sorry'. And being naturally curious, I opened it, and wanted to read what you really thought. So sit back, listen to this."

Cam leaned against the pile of pillows on Michelle's bed, closed her eyes, and listened to her own words, the ones she knew by heart, but could not bear to have spoken, and like gossamer spiders, the words crawled through the air on a silky voice…

_Michelle. I'm sorry. I undermined your ability to make your own choices, and I cannot express how bad I feel for trying to make you choose between me and Finn. _

_So many times have I tried to tell you what you mean to me, what being a parent is really like, how happy I am to see you smile, to see you happy and healthy. _

_SO many times I have stopped myself. _

_I have been close to touching the glory of parent before. _

_Before I even met your father. _

_Or you. _

_And all I had was Seeley Booth. _

_And Leila Alanis Booth. _

_And even though I never met my baby, I loved her. _

_Just like I love you. _

_1 month pregnant turned into 6. _

_But at 6 and three weeks, my mom died. _

_And when my mom died, I miscarried because of the stress. 7 months with Leila. 7 months was not enough. _

_Seeley left, went to war. _

_I lost three. _

_I found two. _

_You and your father. _

_You returned light into my life. _

_I lost you too. _

_But I got you back. _

_Leila would be your age. _

_But now she just has a stone above her little head. _

_I have tried so hard to do right. _

_To you, the people around me, and to Finn. _

_But it never works. _

_I'm sorry._

_I'm so sorry._

Tears. SO simple in their own way. SO violent to the soul. They began sneaking down Cam's cheeks, hot and wet, as the name she had avoided for years began echoing in her ears once more, numbing her heart with longing to hold a body that never had a heartbeat of its own.

Cam cried for Leila Alanis Booth.

Cams cried for all the rights she had wronged.

Michelle walked over and held her adoptive mother as she cried and held her close.

"I have tried so hard to do right." She sobbed.

Michelle pushed her nose into Cam's dark hair.

"And you have."

XxXxX

The grave was small and isolated, far beneath a large tree, as important graves often are. The shade of this tree, as cliché as Michelle thought it was, remained to be, even as the tree was dark and withered in this fall, was a place even a life unlived, would forever enjoy.

The place was beautiful. Despite the undeniable morbidness of the graveyard, it was pretty. Old head stones that had been roughed with the winds, and new glossy ones that glittered and shone, words of people long departed, their families, their dates, their memories, filling the grounds, grounds with many trees of autumn colors with their loss and sadness, chilled Michelle.

This place would forever be sad.

Leaves covered the ground, brown and orange and dancing in the wind, around her stone.

_Leila Alanis Booth: Forever dancing in the stars._

Finn put his arm around Michelle. He wanted to come, said it would be like passing up a Billy bookshelf giveaway if he didn't.

Whatever that meant.

Cam didn't mind.

Finn brought flowers.

White lilies he said meant that if happiness could be put in a nutshell and given a face, it would look like a lily, and he said he wanted to, in an unspoken way, underline the happiness of Cam's daughter, rather than portray the sadness.

Cam was sad today. It had been too long apparently since her last visit. Michelle couldn't believe how well Leila's secret had been kept. Or how Cam could carry the burden of knowing all by herself and hiding it.

Around the grave the leaves danced.

And in heaven, Leila danced too…


End file.
